Stani Kulechov on: saving six months for a computer, dropping out of high school, and building AAVE
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Stani Kulechov, a prominent figure in the Ethereum ecosystem and founder of Aave, shares his unique journey from a small town in Finland to becoming a leading angel investor and protocol builder. His path was not linear; he saved for six months with his parents' support to buy his first computer in 1997, an investment that fundamentally changed his life despite initial skepticism. Kulechov's background includes playing ice hockey professionally as a child and attending sports high school before he pivoted to technology at age thirteen. He eventually dropped out of high school after the first year to program full-time, only returning later to finish his education for university. This early immersion in computing, facilitated by floppy discs and hyperlinks rather than modern search engines, sparked his interest in how the internet democratized access to information, a principle he now applies to decentralized finance (DeFi) through Aave.
The core of Kulechov's work revolves around building accessible financial infrastructure that empowers users globally, drawing parallels between the internet's impact on information and DeFi's potential for money. He founded Aave, one of the most successful lending protocols in the world, with a name derived from the Finnish word for "ghost," symbolizing the automated, trustless nature of the protocol operating behind the scenes. Kulechov emphasizes that culture and community are vital to his projects, noting that getting the cultural layer right affects all others. He also highlights the importance of end-user products over complex infrastructure alone, arguing that for DeFi to scale, it must be simple enough for non-crypto natives to use seamlessly. This philosophy led to the development of the Aave app, designed to reduce friction and improve security, addressing issues like user hacks and poor user experiences that have historically hindered adoption.
Kulechov's approach to investing and building is characterized by a focus on retention rather than just acquisition, believing that sustainable growth comes from keeping users engaged with valuable products. He discusses the evolution of Ethereum from its early days of complex lotteries and high gas fees to a mature ecosystem capable of handling real-world assets (RWAs) through initiatives like Horizon. By tokenizing traditional assets like money market funds and credit funds, Aave allows institutions and individuals to access liquidity without exposing themselves to volatility, effectively creating a market-neutral environment. He views Ethereum as a trust layer where consensus and code security provide the necessary foundation for global financial inclusion, enabling users to borrow stablecoins against collateralized assets at any time.
Ultimately, Kulechov's story is one of balancing serious technological innovation with a sense of fun and community spirit. He advises aspiring builders to maintain longevity in their ideas while focusing on solving real problems for end-users outside the crypto space. His decision to base Aave in London reflects his appreciation for the city's blend of talent, culture, and lifestyle, including its parks and walkability. Despite facing challenges like doxxing campaigns and market volatility, he remains active and optimistic, driven by the desire to help others succeed and to ensure that the next generation of finance is inclusive, secure, and enjoyable. For Kulechov, the most important metric for success is not just the number of users acquired, but how many stay and thrive within an ecosystem that values both technical excellence and human connection.
Read the full video transcript
Our next speaker needs no introduction.
>> Hey.
>> How's it going?
>> No.
>> Actually, my dad saved for [music] um
like saved for like a half a year to buy
the computer because it was so
expensive. People were like very
confused. They thought it was a bad
idea.
>> What were you like as a kid?
>> Now the whole Ethereum works on
collateralization.
>> You're a prolific [music] angel
investor. You have a worst investment.
Can you play to continue the game?
>> That's a good question.
>> Cool. So, we're going to play Jenga
here. Yeah.
>> And there's some questions associated
with it. So, uh if you want to make a
first move, we can you can get started.
>> Okay. Let's see. Uh 31 was my
>> Okay. Uh jersey number in ice hockey
when I used to play.
>> Yeah. Um, you play ice hockey a lot
before?
>> Yeah, for 10 years.
>> Oh, wow.
>> Yeah.
>> As a kid, like for like professionally
like
>> Well, basically it's the national sport
in Finland. So,
>> yeah.
>> Yeah.
>> And I went to uh sports high school and
um
>> No way. Awesome, man. What were you like
as a kid?
>> Um describe yourself.
>> Wild.
>> Yeah.
>> But still kind of like nerdy.
>> Uhhuh.
>> Do you like So, but you played um like
sports growing up, I guess, and in
Thailand. So you born and raised in
Finland itself.
>> Cool.
>> And I think it was 1997
when I got the first computer.
>> Okay.
>> And that kind of like changed my course.
Uh
>> do you remember the first thing you did
online or on a Google?
>> Uh yeah, it was like a some sort of like
a page like a like directory like
yahoo.com.
>> Uhhuh. Okay.
>> That I went to.
>> Yeah.
>> That was before like search engines and
like I just had like
>> How do you even find it? just like like
um I mean the way you install the
internet you go to like a like either a
floppy disc or like um like a CD
>> and then you also have like the the
hyperlinks where you had to go.
>> So everything's much more easier now.
>> Yeah. Yeah. Slightly. [laughter]
>> Were your parents also in tech or like
how how did that happen? Because you
were pretty young and
>> Yeah. Yeah. No, they weren't in tech
actually. My dad saved for um like saved
for like a half a year to buy the
computer because it was so expensive.
>> What do your parents do?
>> Um they basically my mom is a nurse uh
and my dad is in logistics. So they're
very kind of a blue collar um
hardworking people.
>> Yeah. How what were their reaction when
you like as you got more and more into
tech? Like what was that world like? It
feels different.
>> Yeah. I think my dad always wanted me to
do tech because um
>> you know he he saw the like importance
of like computers and um
>> and also internet was slightly coming
up.
>> Yeah.
>> Um
>> and also like remember like kind of um
libraries used to have computers like
that was the like first places and
>> and and talking about that. So uh
they're kind of actually like um really
supportive to be honest.
>> Yeah. How um do you explain to them like
what you do and are they like familiar
with DeFi now like what's that
>> so separate?
>> Yeah, my parents take a
>> Awesome.
>> Yeah. So nice. [laughter]
>> And they use Har as well. So that's
that's pretty nice.
>> I I think they have a quite a good
understanding but I think they also like
suffer from like the lack of access to
DeFi at the moment.
>> Um it's still hard to use and and I
think that's that's something that will
change in the future. So you would you
say a lot of it feels personal.
>> Yeah.
>> Like what you're building and so you
you've seen direct how it can be
helpful.
>> Totally. And I think uh internet and
computers gave access to information
>> like you didn't have to go to libraries
to learn something or ask your parents
or your friends.
>> Yeah.
>> You know like the the amount the
limitations of information was really
constrained.
>> And with the internet like you could
access any any information like you
didn't have to even buy books.
>> Yeah. and Wikipedias and all this kind
of like a public uh public goods help
you know help to educate people as well.
So, so I kind of grew up on on online.
>> Uh, and I think decentralized finance is
is doing the same like what what
internet did for information but for for
financial like money and financial uh uh
infrastructure
creating access for everyone for equal
opportunities and
>> um financial opportunities and and also
access to finance in the future. So you
were in Finland in 1997. You discovered
the internet through floppy discs and
hyperlinks and things. Oh yeah. Um and
then you know you went on and then for
me now there's a gap cuz now I know now
I know that and then I know you have
founded the most successful D5 protocol
uh in the world uh which is now has its
own app and everything. I'm curious what
happened in between like what what was
that after after you discovered the
internet? You know you said ski ice
hockey as well. Yeah, I mean I was
always into sports and um because of my
parents and they they really uh uh
encouraged to do a lot of activities and
um and the rest of the time we spent
like online playing games and Counter
Strike uh that was something we played
all the time and
>> um I think I started to program when I
was 13 um
>> and did that uh quite intensively during
high school and I think I dropped out uh
after first year of high school to just
program full time. Yeah. Yeah. And later
when I wanted to go to university, I had
to go back to high school and finish it
to get to uni.
>> Yeah.
>> And um in my early 20s, I was um
building uh fintech applications where
the whole marketplace economy started.
So
>> Okay.
>> That was like um kind of a peer-to-peer
lending, crowdfunding um marketplaces.
>> Um and that was really kind of like a
first time building financial uh
applications.
>> Yeah. an end of my university, I started
to learn more about Ethereum and
realized that this is actually like a
perfect substrate to to build accessible
products um build once and like
distribute um everywhere.
>> What was that early days of discovering
Ethereum like when you first started?
>> Very uh complex, very um uh hard to
understand um but also like hard to like
u put different things together,
>> I think. Um that was the time when
Ethereum had um DeFi wasn't a like a
thing like DeFi didn't really exist. Um
stable coins didn't exist on Ethereum.
So it was a really um early applications
and um
>> a lot of like lotteryies uh um lot of
like games um in very early uh days and
gas was super expensive as well.
>> Yeah. Yeah. How um you know I guess like
in those days
>> you're probably going conferences,
hackathons and things like that like how
important were the early relationships
that you made and like you know do you
have a first friend in crypto that you
think of fondly
>> or think of often?
>> I think a lot of friends actually and I
I still see a lot of uh people that I
saw in 2017 and uh 2018
>> uh even here uh today. It's it's
actually quite
>> fascinating how large like the community
became over the years.
>> Yeah. Yeah, but the first Ethereum
events were like um you know a couple
hundred people um and grew to like a few
thousand people. So yeah,
>> and this is the most enthusiastic people
that actually travel to these events and
participate.
>> Um you know speaking of events, you guys
organized RAV, one of the most
successful hyped up things in any
conference in Ethereum. Um and you know
that that kind of like it's very it's
clear that culture is very important to
you. It's clear that art is very
important to you. like from the way a is
designed to things that a throws and all
that like why is that like what part of
your life influenced that slash like
>> how is that your interest?
>> Yeah, I think culture uh dictates
everything um if you get the culture
level right um you can affect all the
lay all the layers um above.
>> Yeah. Um, and I think it's important to
have a really sense of community. Um,
oh, that's a nice uh nice one.
>> Have a good sense of community um around
uh what we're doing because um it's a
very like a value based u uh project.
So, we believe in in in freedom and and
what decentralized finance can can do
for a lot of people, empower them.
>> Um and building around a community of
like-minded uh individuals really brings
everything together. Um and also rabies
are the way to to also like celebrate
and give back to the community. Uh and
brings like a kind of a strong sense of
belonging.
>> Yeah.
>> And I feel the same way about the
Ethereum and the Ethereum ecosystem.
There's there's a lot of uh a lot of
people here because they share the same
values and also see where um where the
technology could be used and and how it
could benefit uh everyone. Um, where
were you when you named A and how did
the name A come to come about?
>> I think I was uh in Switzerland in one
of our like the first offices we we
opened for for
>> for a
>> um and I remember we were looking for u
kind of like a name that represents what
we do. Um, and we were looking for
Finnish words
>> partially because of my background, but
partially because it's probably the
least used uh dictionary when it comes
to naming companies and and projects. So
um yeah at that time um uh a seemed
really interesting because uh it means
ghost in Finnish and uh typically these
protocols operate by themselves
automatically and we are kind of like
the ghosts uh behind the scenes and
>> and then that resonates uh a lot that
and also transparency. So
>> the transparency aspect is important on
in in in our way.
>> Yeah. Um but yeah, it also felt fun like
it if if if you build uh the next
generation of uh you know something that
is going to be bigger than JPM and and
all of these uh bigger uh biggest banks
and and networks.
Why name it something you know serious
where you know you don't have to pretend
and and create trust because you can
create something that is trustless and
prove itself as well. It's it's clear
that your roots match matter a lot to
you from the name of a to the story of
what motivates you as well. Yeah. Um and
you know you mentioned you're you're
from like a smaller town in Finland
itself. Yeah. and you've now gone on to
build a and this now you're competing
with JP Morgan and one of the most
collateralized banks in the world and
whatnot, right? Um
what is that like you know if you were
to tell other people today who maybe
where you were when you were 16, 17, 18
um what do you think is are core lessons
that helped you that you wish more
people could know about if they're in a
similar position?
Yeah, I think um one important is to to
kind of uh I would say kind of um having
like long longevity for uh for ideas and
and thinking about like you know what's
what like how do you kind of like bring
net value and and typically like um in a
uh infrastructure
uh play like Ethereum and our ecosystem
>> it's important to think about like
what's what will be the next step after
kind of um how do we get the technology
to adopt? How do we build products for
um users that are not in the space and
how do we grow net new value and users?
I think um thinking towards all the way
of uh end users, we we can learn that
there's actually a lot of problems in
between
>> um the users where there are today and
where Ethereum is.
>> Yeah.
>> Um and obviously
>> yeah. So I think uh it's important to
kind of like a think about like what not
what the space our space is looking for
but what do the the the users that are
outside of our space are looking for and
how we can solve those uh problems.
>> How do you differentiate between JP
Morgan and a
>> yeah a as a protocol it's a network so
it actually connects the JP Morgans of
of tomorrow. Um and as the network
scales uh the benefits for the
participants increases by increasing
liquidity uh decreasing liquidity risk
uh making borrowing cost lower
increasing demand and that increases
supply.
>> Yeah.
>> Uh so overall there's a good feedback
network there. Um so I think it's
something that all these uh institutions
can plug in in into the in the future.
>> Awesome. Um you mentioned you know your
parents just use a Uh well you mentioned
that your parents are also using a but
you also mentioned like previously there
was like some D5 friction in the UX
side. Yes. Um you guys just announced an
app.
>> What is the motivations for that and
where do you see that kind of usability
side going? Yeah, we think that DeFi has
grown significantly in in the um in our
kind of industry, but most of the users
still lack of access uh to DeFi and and
simply um there isn't simple experience
um for D5 where you can actually move
your funds from your bank accounts into
a
>> Yeah.
>> with the least possible friction um and
most straightforward uh oning. So that's
why we built the A app. Um and I think
that's a really powerful offering
because it's a way to onboard all the um
users that are outside of the space at
the moment and going directly to the
consumers.
>> Totally. Yeah. I mean it's it's super
exciting. My parents use DeFi quite a
bit now and it's still a grind. Like so
my actually the sad thing is my dad got
hacked um really of an airdrop from like
scam. So we've already kind of fallen
into some of those things but you know
>> so that's an example why why we need
better access like better access also
means uh better security so how do you
ensure that users don't get compromised
by um any of these kind of like a
fishing attempts and how do we do it
better uh than in the in the kind of
like traditional internet world
>> so I think that's that's part of it so
how do you secure how do you provide uh
ease of use at the same time Yeah,
>> solving this is important because we
can't rely on a process where users are
losing their funds as a first-time
users.
>> It won't be scalable.
>> Um when you were starting out on a ETH
lend at the time, right?
>> Did you get immediate validation or were
people like what is this? This is like
doesn't make any sense and if that was
the case like how did you keep keep
pushing? Yeah, I think when I launched
uh Eland, I um I wrote this like a nice
post on Reddit like basically what I
built
>> um and I I shared it on um Ethereum
Reddit which was before crypto Twitter
existed. That was the place to to uh to
basically share ideas and and and in
progresses and and whatnot and and also
Bitcoin uh Bitcoin talk as well
>> um as a forum. So I shared this post and
it got completely completely
um slashed there. Um people came and
were saying why would you ever
you know use Ethereum as a collateral?
Why would you borrow against it? Um
>> you know people were like very confused
that it they thought it was a bad idea.
>> Yeah.
>> Got a lot of downloads. Um
>> yeah now the whole Ethereum works on
collateralization. Yeah.
>> Um,
>> so it's it's a great example where you
know like
>> people won't necessarily won't get it in
the first place without the proper like
content and education.
>> Um, but it doesn't mean that the idea
doesn't have validation.
>> Yeah.
>> Sometimes the idea can have validation
but the execution is poor.
>> Yeah.
>> Uh, so there's different components that
is important to Janelle um everywhere.
So yeah, that was a little bit uh uh
confusing to me. Um but I kept just like
thinking, kept like uh improving the
product and um and um I think that was
the right path.
>> Yeah.
>> Um you it's been like almost a decade.
>> Almost. Yeah.
>> Almost a decade. You're still here.
You're still showing up every single
day. I feel all you're still not at all.
You're still running around going around
the world meeting people. Like you're
very much still active. You're very much
in the zone still. How much does that
matter to you?
>> It matters a lot. Um because also like
I've seen the community grow and and
directions and I have also like strong
opinions about uh what we need to do as
a community and and also I want to be
here because I want to help other people
as well and you know get their projects
out um and and give them advice.
>> Yeah.
>> And at the same time share what we're uh
building and what's our vision in the
space. Um and hopefully that helps to to
to a lot of newcomers as well to to
navigate. Um I think that's also great
that we see a lot of uh friends here uh
that has been coming uh year after year.
>> Um it it it requires a lot of uh energy
obviously to uh prepare for the whole
week and participate but it's really
worth it.
>> Um you're a prolific angel investor. Um
you got doxed campaign recently, right?
Um
>> what do you look like when you're
looking for new builders to invest in
and be like, "Okay, like this is someone
that I can trust." What
>> are there characteristics or things that
you look out for?
>> Yeah, I think um first that I look is is
is definitely like the team and uh and
the founders and kind of like um trying
to assess the the uh uh understanding of
the problem that they're trying to
solve.
>> Um and also uh try to understand like
the execution.
>> Yeah. and then also the the actual
problem that they're uh solving or or
the product they're building.
>> Um and combining this together and also
timing is is quite important. Sometimes
um the timing isn't right but you might
want to invest uh regardless because um
you know you want to you you want to
progress as a a particular category for
example.
>> Do you have a worst investment?
Not really because um there's always
some value there um invest in
investments
uh you learn quite a lot um you progress
uh the space
>> um and and and typically you create a
lot of talent as a output. So sometimes
the investment doesn't work but then um
the same team might go and and start
another company where they have more
experience and might be more successful.
So, some [clears throat] are more
successful than others.
>> Um, but in overall like they're all
they're all like kind of like bets that
we're uh confident in.
>> Yeah. I I think what's uh my one of my
favorite stats in crypto is actually
like there's always this thing where how
many people have joined crypto, how big
has the users grown. I care a lot about
how many people stay and as long as we
continue to have that number go up, I I
think we're still getting somewhere no
matter how things pan out in the smaller
company or your startups etc. Yeah.
>> I think that's amazing metric because
everyone thinks about the uh the
acquisition uh but very little on
retention.
>> Yeah. Whereas typically now um in kind
of like the
on on the acquisition side people think
typically traditional now more about
retention.
>> Yeah.
>> Than acquisition.
>> So I think it's a great thinking um
especially because it highlights also
like why people don't get more engaged
>> typically it's because there's lack of
product that might be engaging for for
these users.
>> I think we've been focusing a decade on
infrastructure.
>> Yeah. And I think the application layer
is is kind of like the next decade where
a lot of focus will be on and that will
help us to to scale the uh user bases.
>> Yeah. And uh like crypto as a field is
constantly been seen as such a volatile
thing. It's like bare market bull
market.
>> Um a is like counter chapat, right? It's
it's actually it's just use a just be
steady throughout.
>> How do you how do you view that? like
what's you know especially as crypto
gets more and more adopted as you go and
speak to institutions and things um and
teams like that like
>> how what is that insight uh like for you
>> I mean in some ways our product is
market neutral so uh there's a need when
when the market cycle is going up uh
people tend to use a to leverage or
markets are going down they tend to
unlock liquidity without selling their
assets um and most of the users are just
supplying stable coins So they are not
kind of like um interacting with the
volatility.
>> Um and then with the inst institutional
assets like the horizon market that we
launched
>> um where you use tokenized assets to
battle those assets are market neutral.
So they don't have any volatility. Can
you explain what RWAs are and what what
Horizon is?
>> RWAS are simply um just traditional uh
assets uh money market funds, credit
funds that are tokenized and and and and
um they have digital twins on the
blockchain.
>> And um that representation then can be
used uh within DeFi
>> using as a collateral in a to borrow
stable coins for example.
>> So you will have 247 access to
liquidity.
It's great for borrowers because they
can access liquidity at any point. It's
great for lenders because they can lend
against traditional assets but doing
that onchain with with uh stable coins.
So I think for um institutions realizing
kind of like the benefit of stable coins
and also tokenized assets that helps to
them to think outside of the the the
volatility and thinking that crypto is
purely about volatility.
>> Yeah. Awesome. I mean, I think like for
Ethereum, one of the things that I I
feel pretty passionate about is that
it's a trust layer.
>> Yeah.
>> And protocols like a show the trust in
action in the real world.
>> Yeah.
>> Like it's lend borrow backed by the
economic security and the weight of
trust that comes with these platforms.
>> Exactly.
>> Um and then the globalized aspect of
that. Yeah. I it's it just makes so much
sense. It's cool to see all adopting
that. And I think um and the trust comes
from the consensus that people trust the
a kind of like a preed process that
there is no collaterals or asset that
are
>> basically has some sort of uh um risk
that could could materialize uh at some
point. Um trust also that there's other
developers that are reading the code
bases and that's a that's a risky move.
>> I know it's getting riskier. [laughter]
Um and that's kind of like the consensus
of trust is what um makes it kind of
like a strong and having these different
stakeholders that contribute to the a
ecosystem and ensure that
>> um the the protocol is is uh uh
protected. I think that's a big thing
the same way as the nodes on Ethereum
are protecting the the Ethereum as a
network.
>> Um what is something about you that the
internet doesn't see?
Um
maybe
it doesn't see I think um Oh
[laughter]
>> wow, that was great, man. This is you
left me in a hard spot here.
>> Yeah, it's this is a this is a tricky
one, right?
>> Um yeah, what's what's something about
you the internet doesn't see? Well,
obviously it doesn't see how kind of
like a much work it goes into what we do
daytoday. Um, I think a lot of things
are taken from like face value. Um,
but also kind of a,
you know, I I think it has to be a fun
process, right? So, uh, that's a good
move. you know, building has to be a fun
process that you know, you you shouldn't
be here if if it's like uh overwhelming
or um you know, you should be here to
kind of like en enjoy doing what you do
basically.
>> Um
>> and we're having a lot of fun uh to be
honest and
>> um Graz is a great example how to how to
have fun. I mean it's it's just unreal
to me that like the same team that is
going and changing what modern finance
would look like it's what the 30th
largest bank in the world not
considering collateralization it's
probably higher um is also doing ra like
it it proves that you guys are actually
you're bringing the crypto culture into
the next gener finance
>> and you know you're not really forgoing
the same
>> community and the culture that brought
you towards this world
>> yeah it's very powerful
>> it's a new world of finance It's like
and new rules. I I think uh
because there's no need to trust um
centralized asset managers or
centralized banks, you have a completely
new level playing field. Uh and I think
that's really amazing. I think you're uh
yeah, that's a hard one.
>> Hold on. Let me try something here. Oh
man,
>> found a really easy one.
>> That was a good one.
>> Um, what recent decision made your
project better?
>> I think a app.
>> How so?
>> Just focusing on like simplicity. The
simplicity scales. Uh, and I think we're
very energized about that direction. Um,
and just bringing more DeFi to
mainstream
>> and doing it the right way where
everything is abstracted away and it's
simple and easy to use.
>> Awesome. Um, what makes you feel most
alive?
>> That's a good one.
>> Sorry.
>> What makes you feel most alive?
>> Um,
most alive. I think having a balance in
life is good.
>> Enjoying the things that you build. um
and and kind of like seeing the results
and and how you know people engage with
with the products. That's that's the
best thing. And then working with great
people, I think
>> having great people in your team and and
having really
um amazing stories and being able to to
uh to contribute to something like uh uh
greater and bigger is is something that
I really like. Um, and sometimes it's as
simple as like uh you know having beers
with with your uh teammates, you know.
>> Mhm.
>> That can be really uh uh uh like a
really uh good experience too.
>> Yeah.
>> Yeah. It's underrated. I I think like
it's important you've kind of stressed
throughout this time of like you have to
have fun while doing things.
>> Exactly.
>> If you're reinventing finance, you have
to have fun while doing it. It
>> Exactly.
>> It's also it shows why you're still in
the game, why you're still here, what
you're still charging for, why it's only
going bigger and bigger. obvious only
literally growing uh constantly. It it
resonates in the way that you approach
this.
>> Yeah,
>> I think agree.
>> Is that um is that something you learned
in your childhood? Like what what do you
think makes you like that as someone who
kind of aspires to have fun while doing
even the the toughest work out there?
Yeah. I I just like the like doing
things that aren't like like I don't
like the element of seriousness.
>> Yeah. Like I like the like I like the
seriousness of uh getting things done
but I like the fact that you know you
have to have fun in life you know fun in
work and and and simply um and you have
to have that freedom and I think I had a
lot of freedom when I was growing up and
that kind of like um created experiences
that I otherwise wouldn't have and and
also was able to um you know have more
fun than than uh
uh I would if it if will be more like
stricter. So
>> and I think that's something I I'm
thinking always like how to keep an
environment where you know everyone has
space to to to enjoy as well.
>> Um you guys chose to be based in London
as one of your main headquarters.
>> Yeah.
>> Like my turn or
>> Yeah, it's your turn. Why London? Um and
I'm saying this because I had a great
time in London and it seems like you
guys picked the perfect spot, but I'm
curious what your thought was to go and
move there. I mean the the food is
amazing in London these days.
>> Beans are great.
>> Yeah. So that's one uh one aspect of
that. Um the second is like you have
good access to talent. Um a lot of
culture and it's a big enough city
that's you have everything but at the
same time it doesn't feel uh like a
concrete jungle. there's there's parks
and there's you know I walk a lot so I
like to live in a way where I can of
walk
>> um you know walk to work and and um and
and overall it's very hard to do in a in
a more like um uh like a bigger city
that that's that has less parks for
example
>> um and I just like the European uh
lifestyle as well um so London is able
to offer everything that that I like to
>> it's a good spot you travel a a lot
though, right? Like you're
>> Yeah,
>> you're moving around.
>> We did recently. Yeah.
>> Yeah.
>> Okay. Should we try speed run this?
>> Okay.
>> It's getting pretty intense. I don't
>> So I I can try something really tricky.
>> Oh, I just Oh, you got
>> This is too easy. This is too easy.
>> You You got to do the You can do it.
>> This one is tricky.
>> Okay. Oh, man.
>> Oh, honestly, sometimes it's putting it
on the top gets harder.
>> Yeah. Um,
oh,
>> who's someone outside of like crypto and
tech that inspired you either whether
it's your leadership style or like you
when you were coming up?
>> Is there something else to mine?
>> I think uh inside outside of crypto
>> yeah
inside too. Yeah, I think like the the
um Collison brothers are pretty
pretty great founders and
really good to kind of like look up to
on on you know things that kind of like
work and and how you operate. Oh, that
was a that was a
>> so nice one.
>> Um
>> Wow.
>> Let's try something.
Oh man. Wow.
I think that
>> not bad.
>> Yeah, I think I still think that was
going to be hard for you.
>> Yeah, I think I'm I might be over for
me.
>> Okay. I literally can't pull any There's
always There's always one or something
that's surprises you. Oh.
>> Oh, good one. Yeah.
>> This is the one you didn't pull out
earlier.
>> Yeah.
>> Thank you. Okay.
Oh, no way. [laughter]
Yeah, I think I be over now for sure
unless
some magic happens. Um, yeah, that's
that's a hard one.
>> 54. No. No.
12. No.
>> Oh, okay. That's my That's my work.
Sty a little bit more.
Oh. Oh,
almost.
Nice.
>> No,
it's still there.
>> I don't know if this is going to last.
This might be the most intricate one so
far.
>> Yeah, this is a hard one.
Oh yeah, I found one.
>> No.
Oh man.
[laughter]
>> Yeah, this is it's now it's getting
hard.
>> It's for now it's very hard. Um,
was there a time you almost quit?
>> It's like
it's not a it's um Yeah, sometimes.
>> Yeah.
>> But um it's kind of like a quit for the
day.
>> Yeah.
>> Like you know, you just give up for the
day to rest and there's always the next
day.
Especially if you have a something
that's hard to solve.
>> Yeah,
>> like the puzzle here.
Oh,
[laughter]
>> this is by far the most intricate one of
>> Yeah.
>> See, this might be it for me. Unless
>> Yeah.
>> Yeah, that's it.
How
>> man
world record?
>> Yeah, I think you got it.
No. Oh, [laughter]
damn. Okay. So, as the rules state,
yeah, uh you can ask me any question. I
have to answer it.
>> It can be a spicy one. Whichever one
the camera has to answer.
>> So, um
maybe I will ask you about
Well, what what what's the most
important thing we need to do as a
community as a Ethereum community?
>> Yeah.
>> I I think we need to talk a lot more
about enduser products.
>> Yeah.
>> And associate Ethereum as
a reason why those products exist in the
sense but not dominant. It's not like I
think there's a sensitive point here,
right? A has gone on and made 34 billion
TB plus 50 like
>> uh and has real users and has this app
that's going to now only catapult your
growth is significantly more.
>> It would be strange if Ethereum as a
community is like oh Ethereum did that
>> a did that on Ethereum right and a did
that because of Ethereum in different
ways and us figuring out how we can
actually channel that energy especially
within end user products is going to be
very very powerful. Um I think the A app
is the first instance of this in many
ways. Um like generally I'm not saying
that just cuz you're here like um I'm a
strong believer that front ends rule
>> everything.
>> Um I think we saw in the past cycle
where the highest generating fees and
users were all like front end oriented.
Yeah.
>> Um like Phantom for example, right? And
it's true that Salana swaps was a big
catalyst for you know not of some people
coming on chain for the first time but
those people associated not necessarily
with the blockchain they associated with
Phantom right like download Phantom and
make money. It's gonna be the same thing
download a
>> userf facing uh yeah
>> totally and I think uh we need to do a
better job at helping orchestrate that
story and like Ethereum's role within it
as like use a and save money you can
trust that money because it's on
Ethereum which is the trust layer upon
which this thing is built and like I
think that's the sort of stuff that we
have to do a bit more of.
>> Yeah. Perfect.
>> Yeah. I definitely think um that's the
direction to to take because we um we
built this amazing infrastructure uh on
the network layer on the D5 layer and
now the next layer is basically like
building what works and just
distributing to
>> totally
>> everyone. So it's D5 for everyone.
>> Yeah. Yeah. And like it's I think the
majority of the people who discover
Ethereum will discover it through these
surfaces.
>> Yeah. Um and obviously there's the other
side like technically and protocol-wise
like continue accelerating continue
making your lives easier for all the
builders everything. Uh but I think a
very very important part is end user
product oriented things. It's not hey
imagine if this existed it's look use
this you can download it now and it's
objectively better.
>> Um and the data shows that too. So
>> that's true. Sunny honor having so much
as usual.
>> Thank you so much.
>> That was intense.
>> Yeah.